Example Code for Arduino-Rainbow LED Effect

Hardware Preparation

• DFRduino UNO x 1
• 16x16 RGB LED Matrix x1

Software Preparation

• Arduino IDE, Click to Download Arduino IDE from Arduino®

Wiring Diagram

Other Preparation Work

In this section, we'll use Adafruit_NeoPixel RGB LED Lbrary. How to install Libraries in Arduino IDE

// IMPORTANT: To reduce NeoPixel burnout risk, add 1000 uF capacitor across
// pixel power leads, add 300 - 500 Ohm resistor on first pixel's data input
// and minimize distance between Arduino and first pixel. Avoid connecting
// on a live circuit...if you must, connect GND first.

Sample Code

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>
#ifdef __AVR__
  #include <avr/power.h>
#endif

#define PIN 6

// Parameter 1 = number of pixels in strip
// Parameter 2 = Arduino pin number (most are valid)
// Parameter 3 = pixel type flags, add together as needed:
//   NEO_KHZ800  800 KHz bitstream (most NeoPixel products w/WS2812 LEDs)
//   NEO_KHZ400  400 KHz (classic 'v1' (not v2) FLORA pixels, WS2811 drivers)
//   NEO_GRB     Pixels are wired for GRB bitstream (most NeoPixel products)
//   NEO_RGB     Pixels are wired for RGB bitstream (v1 FLORA pixels, not v2)
//   NEO_RGBW    Pixels are wired for RGBW bitstream (NeoPixel RGBW products)
Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(256, PIN, NEO_GRB   NEO_KHZ800);

// IMPORTANT: To reduce NeoPixel burnout risk, add 1000 uF capacitor across
// pixel power leads, add 300 - 500 Ohm resistor on first pixel's data input
// and minimize distance between Arduino and first pixel.  Avoid connecting
// on a live circuit...if you must, connect GND first.

void setup() {
  // This is for Trinket 5V 16MHz, you can remove these three lines if you are not using a Trinket
  #if defined (__AVR_ATtiny85__)
    if (F_CPU == 16000000) clock_prescale_set(clock_div_1);
  #endif
  // End of trinket special code


  strip.begin();
  strip.show(); // Initialize all pixels to 'off'
}

void loop() {
  // Some example procedures showing how to display to the pixels:
  //colorWipe(strip.Color(255, 0, 0), 50); // Red
 // colorWipe(strip.Color(0, 255, 0), 50); // Green
  //colorWipe(strip.Color(0, 0, 255), 50); // Blue
//colorWipe(strip.Color(0, 0, 0, 255), 50); // White RGBW
  // Send a theater pixel chase in...
 // theaterChase(strip.Color(127, 127, 127), 50); // White
  //theaterChase(strip.Color(127, 0, 0), 50); // Red
  //theaterChase(strip.Color(0, 0, 127), 50); // Blue

  rainbow(20);
  //rainbowCycle(20);
  //theaterChaseRainbow(50);
}

// Fill the dots one after the other with a color
void colorWipe(uint32_t c, uint8_t wait) {
  for(uint16_t i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i  ) {
    strip.setPixelColor(i, c);
    strip.show();
    delay(wait);
  }
}

void rainbow(uint8_t wait) {
  uint16_t i, j;

  for(j=0; j<256; j  ) {
    for(i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i  ) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i, Wheel((i j) & 255));
    }
    strip.show();
    delay(wait);
  }
}

// Slightly different, this makes the rainbow equally distributed throughout
void rainbowCycle(uint8_t wait) {
  uint16_t i, j;

  for(j=0; j<256*5; j  ) { // 5 cycles of all colors on wheel
    for(i=0; i< strip.numPixels(); i  ) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i, Wheel(((i * 256 / strip.numPixels())   j) & 255));
    }
    strip.show();
    delay(wait);
  }
}

//Theatre-style crawling lights.
void theaterChase(uint32_t c, uint8_t wait) {
  for (int j=0; j<10; j  ) {  //do 10 cycles of chasing
    for (int q=0; q < 3; q  ) {
      for (uint16_t i=0; i < strip.numPixels(); i=i 3) {
        strip.setPixelColor(i q, c);    //turn every third pixel on
      }
      strip.show();

      delay(wait);

      for (uint16_t i=0; i < strip.numPixels(); i=i 3) {
        strip.setPixelColor(i q, 0);        //turn every third pixel off
      }
    }
  }
}

//Theatre-style crawling lights with rainbow effect
void theaterChaseRainbow(uint8_t wait) {
  for (int j=0; j < 256; j  ) {     // cycle all 256 colors in the wheel
    for (int q=0; q < 3; q  ) {
      for (uint16_t i=0; i < strip.numPixels(); i=i 3) {
        strip.setPixelColor(i q, Wheel( (i j) % 255));    //turn every third pixel on
      }
      strip.show();

      delay(wait);

      for (uint16_t i=0; i < strip.numPixels(); i=i 3) {
        strip.setPixelColor(i q, 0);        //turn every third pixel off
      }
    }
  }
}

// Input a value 0 to 255 to get a color value.
// The colours are a transition r - g - b - back to r.
uint32_t Wheel(byte WheelPos) {
  WheelPos = 255 - WheelPos;
  if(WheelPos < 85) {
    return strip.Color(255 - WheelPos * 3, 0, WheelPos * 3);
  }
  if(WheelPos < 170) {
    WheelPos -= 85;
    return strip.Color(0, WheelPos * 3, 255 - WheelPos * 3);
  }
  WheelPos -= 170;
  return strip.Color(WheelPos * 3, 255 - WheelPos * 3, 0);
}

Result

The LED matrix will display a rainbow effect that cycles through all colors. The rainbow function in the code cycles through each color of the wheel for all pixels, creating a smooth color transition.